Her trust a dark syndica.., p.25
Her Trust : A Dark Syndicate Romance, page 25
Guinevere has a watery gaze when I see her and then quickly turns away when she sees me looking. Harvey is staring at me, a soft smile and a look I don’t understand but it does something to me. It makes the need he’s left me with this morning grow and intensify under his eye. He knows it, too, smiling wickedly as I adjust myself on the barstool.
“Are you and Harvey married?” Keeley asks, breaking whatever spell Harvey was casting. He nearly chokes on his coffee as I stare horrified at the little girl.
“No, why would you ask that?” I ask.
“Because married people share bedrooms,” Keeley says matter-of-factly.
I gape. Speechlessness is unfamiliar to me but here it is with me in a chokehold. Lee has looked up from his phone, jaw practically on the ground, Mabel looks surprised too and Guinevere looks like she’s about to pass out.
Keeley looks around at everyone’s shocked expressions. “Did I say something wrong?” She asks nervously.
“No, princesa.” Harvey speaks first, thankfully because I’m still frozen to my seat. “Annika and I aren’t married.”
“Do you love each other?” she continues.
“Didn’t you want to go swimming?” Harvey asks, clapping his hands together.
“Yes!” She jumps off the chair she was standing on to look at recipe books with Guinevere. “Don’t make the cake without me, okay?” She points at the flustered maid with a stern expression that I would probably find endearing if I wasn’t having a bloody heart attack.
“Come on, Kee, let’s get your armbands.” Mable stands, holding her hand out for her little sister and leads her out the room. But she throws an amused smirk my way before disappearing.
“I think a lemon cake,” Guinevere says nervously, trying to clear the tension hanging in the air.
“Miss White and I are in a relationship,” Lee blurts, and poor Guinevere drops the metal mixing bowl she was retrieving from the cupboard with a loud clang. The glare she shoots him is very out of character and makes him shrink with an apologetic grimace.
“And you have decided to tell me this because?” I say, holding on to the tiny thread of control I have.
“Well, because you…if you and Harv are…I mean…” he trails off when he realises that he’s gone about this wrong.
“Let me be clear when I say I have been fully aware that Miss White and you have been engaged in a sexual relationship for near on a year.”
“You have?” Guinevere squeaks and in turning to look at her, I catch Harvey trying desperately to hide his laughter behind his coffee cup.
“Please, you’re living under my roof, and I’m relatively intellectual. I can read between the lines as well as anyone.”
“Miss Wolfe, we are so sorry.”
I hold my hand out to stop her apologies. “Guinevere, I have no say over who you do or do not invite into your bed.” She blushes, looking away. “And I do not determine when you’re ready to tell me or anyone else about your relationship. It’s your business, not mine.” I turn to Lee. “Just as my business is my own.”
He holds his hands up. “Yes, ma’am.”
I start to walk out but the need to say something else holds me back, turning to face a red-faced Guinevere, I tell her, “I’m pleased you’re happy, Miss White. And I’m glad that a good man has made you so.”
I give Lee a pointed stare. He can bumble like an idiot at times, but I’ve known him since he was sixteen, when I was only a few months older and had an empire to run. He has been trusting and loyal from the beginning and I want good things for him. He smiles at me, and I leave with a nod. Harvey hot on my tail.
The club is busy this afternoon and I have several of my men in for one thing or another and I hardly have a moment alone with Harvey. He doesn’t leave my office though, staying beside me through all of my meetings, a warming and calm presence at my back. I find myself grateful that we don’t get time to talk because I don’t know how to be with him now. What was last night to him? A one-time thing? I don’t know what I want from him, but I do know that I want more.
When my last appointment is over with and we are finally together, he doesn’t make me talk about things I’m not ready to. Instead he asks, “What are we going to do about the girls?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, how are we going to find the bastards responsible and the other kids that need help?” I sigh, trying to think of a solution. “I get that you don’t want to call the police, but I can’t just leave it.” He’s pacing back and forth.
“You think I’d be happy to just let sleeping dogs lie?” I ask, hurt by his opinions of me.
He sighs, looking at me sadly. “No, rainha. I know this is killing you as much as it is me. I just…I feel helpless here. I hate it.”
I stand, my feet taking me to him without thought of why. For the first time in my life, I have an urge to comfort someone, but my logic tells me I’ll be no good at it. I cup his face and stroke my thumbs over his cheekbones. He frowns slightly like my actions confuse him and I can’t say I blame him; I have no idea what I’m doing.
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell him. “Together?” I don’t mean for the last part to come out as a question, but it does.
He nods, his eyes going to my mouth, and he leans forward to kiss me, his arms wrapping around my waist. I can’t believe how natural it feels to kiss him back. How I have no concerns about standing in my office in his arms. How quickly things seem to have changed.
“We have one more lead to try,” I say when we pull apart. “Get ready to meet The Daos, detective.”
30
HARVEY
The man across the desk is known to me but I’ve never met him before. Although Dao territory didn’t fall within my branch’s jurisdiction, we were all made aware when Lance Preston took over the mantle as their leader. Sydney, his predecessor, was a cruel and hard man who definitely had dirty cops on his payroll to keep his name clear from any records. Since the son has taken over, we’ve heard very little from the Daos. Although, like I said, they weren’t my patch so maybe the guys on the Northeast corner of the city would know more.
He’s a good-looking guy, more fitted to a runway than the head of a crime organisation. And he’s young. Why are all these crime bosses so fucking young? Annika sits in one of the chairs across from him, seemingly casual with one leg crossed over the other but her lightly bouncing foot, strapped into her fashionable heels strikes me as odd. Annika rarely fidgets. She’s not entirely comfortable here. The thought puts me on edge. I move slightly closer to the back of her chair, standing close by with my arms folded over my chest. The man on the other side of the desk tracks the movement, and his lips tip the slightest bit as if he reads something into my actions. To my right, Preston’s own security is leaning casually against a line of cabinets. He’s a big fucker, taller and broader than me, the top buttons of his crisp white shirt are open to reveal a heavily inked chest, and the tail end of one tattoo creeping up his neck. His eyes stay fixed on me, the look on his face completely unreadable although I get the impression that he’d be ready to pounce at the first sign of any trouble. I wouldn’t say this about many guys but this one could definitely take me out.
“I still can’t believe you moved your entire operation here.” Annika narrows her eyes at Lance Preston, giving him a sceptical glare.
He’s unaffected, giving her an easy and somewhat amused smile. “My wife works here. I like to stay close.”
Annika grunts at that, clearly not convinced but before she can actually say anything, the door behind me bursts open. I turn, ready to tackle whoever is intruding, but neither Preston nor his guard dog seem bothered as a tall, slimmer guy comes in. Wearing a wide and boyish smile which is completely at odds with his all-black suit and darkly lined eyes, he looks as unbothered by us being here as they are of him being here. When his eyes find Annika, his smile turns almost mischievous, and I bristle at it. He rounds her so he stands in front of where she sits and gives an exaggerated bow.
“M’lady, might I say, you look ravishing this evening?”
“Mr Pullman,” Annika greets in a flat tone, clearly unaffected by his charms.
The new guy stands straight and heads to the other side of the desk to stand behind Preston, leaning coolly against the wall. “How the hell are you, darling?”
She shifts slightly in her seat, uncomfortable with the familiarity. “I’m just fine.”
He gives me a slow once over, raising an amused brow. With his eyes on me, he’s still speaking to Annika when he says, “Tell me, anything in particular giving you that radiant glow?”
“Hayden,” Preston warns the new guy with a roll of his eyes. “You’ll have to excuse my husband,” he says, addressing us now. “He has no filter.”
Well, I’m confused. “Husband?” I ask, my brow creasing. “I thought you said you have a wife?”
Preston smirks at me now. “What can I say? I’m a greedy man.”
“You have a husband and a wife?” I ask for clarification.
“Actually,” Annika steps in for him, with a knowing smirk. “It’s a wife and two husbands, isn’t that right, Preston?”
The man just shrugs, unbothered by her teasing. “Brent’s my cousin and straight,” he says, as if that’s supposed to explain something. I have to admit to feeling completely lost.
“Oh, I don’t know.” The goth guy smiles widely at the surly bodyguard. “I think the big guy is getting curious,” he says with a wink.
The bear of a man off to the side rolls his eyes. “I told you, I slipped. I didn’t mean to—”
Preston holds up his hand and the guy I’m assuming is Brent stops talking. “If you really want, I can give you the inner most workings of our personal relationships. But I doubt very much that’s why you’re here. So, what can I do for you, Annika?”
She lets out an annoyed breath because she doesn’t like anyone using her name. But once again, her attitude doesn’t put the other man off at all. “There’s been a couple of incidents recently that, in light of our new…” she waves her hand between them, “alliance, I feel I should bring to your attention.”
Brent pushes off the cabinets he’s been leaning on and joins the other two on the opposite side of the desk to Annika and me. “What kind of incidents?” His impossibly thick arms are folded over his chest as he fixes her with a steely gaze.
There’s a thickness to the tension, and I suddenly feel like we’re in some kind of standoff. Preston and Annika sit on either side of the desk, deceptively cool and casual. Brent and I stand behind our bosses, each glaring and holding ourselves as stiffly as possibly. I’d say we were unevenly matched as there were three of them, but the goth guy is lounging back and inspecting his black nail polish. My detective nose tells me that he isn’t doing it as a façade, he just isn’t worried.
“Kukris have been popping up in Talon territory.” Annika is all business in the way she speaks. “I caught one idiot filming girls at The Diamond Dozen and there was an incident at another of my properties. Also, Grigoriy Volkov was at a fundraiser I attended; it was in my district.”
Preston looks at Annika, eyes narrowed in thought, and takes a long moment to contemplate her words before turning to his cousin. “You think it’s coincidence?”
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” he grumbles.
“What’s not a coincidence?” I jump in before Annika can ask. If it annoys her, she doesn’t show it. “Have you had sightings in Dao territory too?”
Preston takes a deep breath, considering his answer carefully. “We’ve not had any known Kukri’s snooping about in Dao territory. But Brent received an anonymous text message from someone who claimed to have information on the Kukris that we might find useful.”
“It was an untraceable number,” Brent explains. “No name given or any indication as to who they might be. I didn’t respond because it feels like a trap.”
“What have you done with the guys you found?” Goth guy—I think his name is Hayden—asks.
“They’ve been taken care of,” Annika answers, casually.
Hayden smirks. “You still don’t trust us, do you?”
“No,” she answers coldly.
“You hate that you’re here sharing this with us right now, don’t you?”
She glares at him, and he just laughs.
“There are two possibilities here,” Preston says, ignoring his husband. “Either the Kukri’s are aware that we are in cahoots and are trying to play us from different angles, or they are completely unaware of our relationship. Maybe they’re trying to send a message to you and there really is a traitor within their midst trying to help us.”
“We gained very little from the guys we picked up,” Annika says, carefully. “No matter how thoroughly we interrogated them, they wouldn’t give us more than they were looking for a good time outside of their usual spots and they didn’t think we’d notice them.”
The three of them nod in understanding. But Hayden watches Annika with an intensity that makes me glower at him, like he’s reading her mind or something. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
I can’t help my slight shuffle of discomfort. She didn’t want to bring the girls to anyone else’s attention, but if the Daos really are her allies, they need to know of what could be a major breech of territorial agreements.
“Annika,” Preston says gently. “You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to right now. I know you have difficulty in trusting us but please believe I meant what I said. I want us to work together.”
“Yes, yes,” Annika sighs. “You don’t need to patronise me, Preston.” She links her fingers over her stomach, elbows resting on the arms of her chair, and she squares her shoulders. I can practically see her filing away any emotion she has about this situation so she can explain it factually and not give any more away than she needs to. “It’s come to my attention that there’s an organisation dealing in the flesh trade…”
“Isn’t that what you do?” Hayden smirks.
“Children,” she snaps at him, effectively shutting him up and draining all humour from his face. “I do not exploit or sell children.” The ice in her voice cools the room considerably. “I don’t exploit or sell anyone,” she tags on the end quietly.
“What do you know?” Lance asks, the even tone of his voice at odds with the utter disgust on his face. I take some comfort in the fact that he finds this as abhorrent as it is. That the newly crowned Mafia King has some morals at least.
“Very little,” Annika answers.
“How have you come across this information?” Hayden asks leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He, too, has a dark look about him now, one that cements him as a member of The Daos.
Something tells me to trust the three men in front of us. I’ve always been a good judge of character, it’s what made me a good cop, made me able to pick out a suspect quicker than the evidence could. It’s what has me confused over what I know about Annika Wolfe from the file handed to me by the Cap and what I know from my gut with every interaction I have with her. It’s also what makes me step forward and gently take her shoulder in my palm. She stiffens and I see her head turn slightly to see where we’re touching, but she gets the message. You should trust them. Hayden watches us with an amused smirk.
“I met two girls who had managed to escape a holding place they were being kept. They’d been running for days and couldn’t tell me where they’d been or anything that would help me track it down.” Annika speaks without emotion, something I understand better now. She isn’t emotionless, she’s just well adept at hiding them.
“Girls?” Preston asks with an eery cool to his voice, his expression now glacial.
“Six and fourteen.”
“Shit.” Hayden drops his head to his hands for a moment before standing straight and trying to school the disgust on his face.
Brent looks like he’s about to pummel something, nostrils flared, and mouth pulled into a sneer. “Where are they now?”
“Somewhere safe,” is her vague answer. The three men just nod, not needing to know more than the innocents are safe.
“Could we speak to them? Maybe —”
“No.” Annika cuts Preston off before he can finish that thought. Those girls don’t need more gangster interactions and they especially don’t need three big and admittedly intimidating men asking them questions.
He holds his hands up in defence. “I understand.” He regards her with a suspicious eye. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she answers quickly, too quickly. When he raises his eyebrow questioningly, she huffs. “If this has been going on under my nose, I’ve failed. I don’t fail.”
“You think they were being held in your territory?” Hayden summarises.
She pulls in a small inhale as she thinks about it. “They were at the furthest point away from any of the other territories when we found them, they said they’d been running for days so it’s possible that they’d crossed the border, but I couldn’t say for sure.”
“Tantos?” Preston turns to his cousin.
Brent shakes his head, looking darkly thoughtful. “I guess it’s possible. Rubes is out of the game officially but with the work she did while the Tantos were active, it’s hard to believe something like this would be happening on their old stomping ground without her knowing.” Brent looks to Annika, some of his hard edges softening as his arms drop from their defensive pose to hang at his side. “With your permission, I’d like to tell my cousin about this, she may be able to give us some more information.” He pauses as he seems to try and find the right words. “She’s also worked with a lot of women with traumatic backgrounds. If you want, she’d be happy to talk to your girls.”
I don’t know why but hearing them referred to as Annika’s girls makes my chest clench. When he flicks his gaze between us as though he’s speaking to both of us, because they’re both our girls, I have to swallow down a ball of emotion I cannot quite name that has formed in my throat.
